my purple monkey

going through the motions

April 30, 2006

So Relax

Ugh, my allergies are so bad right now. Had to work most of the day yesterday but by 4 o'clock the sun was still shining bright so I decided to get out of the house a bit. Went down to Century 21 to return something for David and shop for myself. I realize I have no clothes. Or very lilttle. It's so hard for me to find stuff I like. Very frustrating. Found a couple things yesterday, but not enough to make a dent in my wardrobe. But my allergies were acting up so after a while we had to leave. I was sneezing so much it was uncontrolable. And embarrassing. I just couldn't stop. Everyone kept blessing me. Then they'd look at me like I was strange. And move away. BAH!

We then went over to Chinatown for some chair massages at So Relax and congee at XO. While waiting for our massages someone asked where the music was coming from. The masseuse lady said "It's CD. You like? It's nice. It's so relax.".

April 24, 2006

Orchidphile

Went to the Orchid Show yesterday at Rockefeller Center. Anyone who knows me from back in the day knows I used to be an Orchidphile. I was obsessed. At one time I had 30 orchids in our tiny apartment. Our tiny apartment with no light. I had big flourescent lights set up. But in the end I had to give up because it was just too difficult to grow them. So I set them out on the fire escape in the Summer, and never brought them back in. So they all died once Wintertime came around. I have about 5 right now. Two were gifts, three were bought. I actually was able to get one of them to rebloom a month ago. This has given me hope.

Yesterday we were annoyed that they wanted to charge us $5 to get in to the show. I know its cheap, but it was just the principle of the thing. And the main reason I was really there was to buy anyway. So we went over to the vendors selling all the orchids at the end and I went to town! Buying orchids in the last half hour of the last day of the show is key. Prices start coming down. I scored 3 plants. Two in bloom, one about to bloom in a few weeks. All were reduced between $5-$10 each so I did good. In all I think I spent $75. Not bad for the beautiful plants that will (hopefully) bring me years of joy.

April 23, 2006

Sereesataka

What's with the crappy weather? And why does it have to come during the weekend? Three days ago it was so warm I wore short sleeves and didn't need to bring a jacket to work. Now it's been raining for two days straight and so dark, damp and dismal that I just want to crawl back into bed and be woken up when the sun returns.

Yesterday we watched a bunch of Land of the Lost episodes (thanks Henry). I never realized the series was episodic. I just thought each episode was Marshall, Will & Holly running away from various dinosaurs and sleestaks. But oh no! There is actually a story here. And it's pretty darn good. I mean, we do make fun of the terrible acting throughout, but I must admit we are enjoying it enough to watch 4 or 5 episodes at a time. And who could forget the catchy opening and closing music.

Gotta run... next episode is about Cha-ka and friends obsessing over young Holly because she put on some perfume. Damn those pheremones.

April 22, 2006

Threepenny Opera

We saw The Threepenny Opera on Tuesday. I was very excited to see my darling Alan Cumming again on Broadway. The last time I saw him was in Cabaret way back when. He was so amazingly charismatic and magnetic. I remember I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Even when Sally Bowles was singing her heart out, I found myself searching the stage for him. So the thought of seeing him again on Broadway was exciting.

The play was good. Not great. The opening song "Mac the Knife" with the entire cast was awesome. The stage was very bare with the exception of giant neon signs that came down from above for each act. But the first half of the show had way too much Polly, and not nearly enough Alan Cumming or Cyndi Lauper. None of the music was very memorable but I still enjoyed the show. I loved Jim Dale as Mr. Peachum. He has such talent. But I feel they wasted Alan and Cyndi on way too few numbers. But what little of them I saw I loved. Strange thing at the end, the cast walked off the stage, and never returned. We had no chance to applaud them and they had no chance to bow to us. Left me feeling a little cold. Actually, the whole play was a little cold and bare. they never gave us a chance to really bond with the characters. But at least I got a little glimpse of Alan, and hopefully he'll be back again soon in another performance that will really showcase his talent.

April 17, 2006

Easter weekend

Had a nice weekend. Mom & Fred were in town. On Friday we were lucky enough to score a reservation for Ouest. Oh. My. Goodness. That food was so damn good. Amazing amazing amazing. The wine was phenomenal. Our appetizers, especially David's omelet souffle and my Mom's lobster & cauliflower dish, were excellent. Our entree's and desserts were equally as good. I don't think I'd get get squab again though. A tad too much gaminess for my liking. I can't believe we've lived within 10 blocks of this place for years and only now have tried it. We will definitely be back.

Saturday we had brunch in the West Village, had David row us around the lake in Central Park, and lobster rolls for dinner in the Village. The summer weather took us all by surprise and wore us out by the end of the day. The 80 gazillion people in Central Park were a bit annoying also.

Easter Sunday we woke up early (6:30AM!) to be in Long Island for Easter breakfast with our cousins. We always have a great time with them with tons of laughs. Dagmar and I had the job of the Easter bunnies and hid the eggs around the yard. It was great fun watching the kids look for eggs. Especially 2 year old Sophie on her first hunt. A little confused at first, but with some guidance she got the hang of it. I must admit though, I was eyeing that Nerds Rope she had.

April 09, 2006

Fake?

I must admit, the latest pic's of Katie Holmes do look rather fake. Dave said maybe they are adopting, as Tom Cruise has done before, and want to pretend it's a natural birth. I wouldn't put it past that weirdo Tom. But would someone really go to such lengths to hide something like that? I guess it's possible. She has been really pregnant for some time now. And it seems she is taking tons of shopping trips in order to be photographed.

V

Since I've been home for a week now we decided to get out of the house for the day. Met with Henry and headed over the river to Williamsburg, Brooklyn to see our friend Susan D. Most of her time is spent in Greece with her husband but she comes back a couple times a year to live the NYC life and catch up on her photography. Although she couldn't make it to our wedding way back when she had promised us one of her gorgeous photos as a wedding gift. No fault of hers, it just took us this long to get over there to meet up with her and take her up on her offer.

Dreary day. Rain, rain and more rain. Cold, cold and more cold. But still nice to get out nonetheless. Ate lunch at a Polish place and shared plates of delicious Kielbasa, potato pancakes, pierogies, Ukranian borscht, chicken schnitzel and sweet n' creamy cheese blintzes. Damn that food is good. And perfect for a day like yesterday.

We then headed back to Susan's apartment. Great place. Railroad style but perfect for her and her work. Looked through some of her various prints and decided on a beautiful one from her Urban Landscape Series. Hopefully soon we'll get around to framing it and putting it up on our brick wall.

We helped her start up her own blog. She was amazed at how simple it all was. I hope it will help her show off her work and maybe sell some more prints.

Finally saw V For Vendetta afterwards. Loved it. I'm so glad I didn't read any negative reviews that could have steered me away from this movie. I just had a feeling I'd like it. I mean, how cool are those posters? Natalie Portman was excellent. I just loved the whole feel of the movie. The (oh so obvious) parallels to our government, the colors, the music. It was all so nicely done. We should all be so brave here in the US.

Headed over to Johnny Rockets afterwards for some damn good greasy burgers and a root beer float. I think those are my favorite burgers ever.

April 06, 2006

D&C

So everything went ok yesterday. As well as something like that can go. My doctor was there waiting for us. I think he had a delivery to go to as he looked a little rushed. But I'm so glad he's my doctor. Held my hand as they put in the anesthesia. They will send the remains to have genetic testing to see if they can pinpoint what the problem is. He also gave David and I a slew of blood tests to have done. I may be pessimistic but I feel like none of these things will help. This is all very upsetting. People tell me "it will happen" and while I know everyone means the best, no one really knows. Not friends, family, my Doctor. No one. We just have to wait and see if things do go our way, or if we have to choose another route. Either way, we will have a baby one day.

In the recovery room there was the familiar nurses there to take care of us. It really is a great place. All the nurses know your name and offer you cookies and tea or cocoa. Once again there were other girls who just had abortions. One girl couldn't stop crying. I just wanted to get out of there. As I was given the OK to leave the nurse gave me my clothes in a Eastside Gynecology tote bag. A tote bag? Because I have fond memories of this?

April 04, 2006

Again

So today was supposed to be the day that I announced to everyone on my blog family that I am two months pregnant. Instead, after my doctor appointment yesterday, I am sad to say I am going to have another miscarriage.

David and I are in shock as we thought this time things were going to go right. But unfortunately this pregnancy has suffered the same fate as the last. The baby just wasn't growing properly and didn't make it. Obviously we are very upset, but will not give up hope. While some people prefer to keep things like this private, I feel it's better for me to be open and talk about it. I'd be kidding myself if I didn't admit that I'm nervous now about how things will go in the future. But we are staying optimistic and will keep trying.

So tomorrow is my D&C, again, to have it removed and then the healing begins. Obviously I'm not looking forward to it. I hope to get out of there as soon as possible.

The doctor suggested going for genetic testing/in-vitro but I think I would really like to try again naturally and hope for the best. If things don't go our way the third time around, then maybe we will look into other options.

April 02, 2006

Sunny skies weekend

Had a wonderful weekend under the warmth of the sun.

Friday night we played poker at Henry's. After not winning a damn thing for almost 2 hours and only having a measley $2 left I won a game. And then another. And another. And another. I kept winning until it was down to me & Matthew and eventually the ante's got so large and luck was in my favor that I was the winner who took all. All meaning $160!!!

Saturday we had brunch with Eugene who actually decided to come up to the Upper West Side. Afterwards we decided to go to the MOMA. Finally we got to see the new MOMA. It's nice to have a friend who can get you in for free because I sure wasn't going to pay $20 a person to get in. Even with my big winnings the night before!

Watched Saw on Showtime later that night with David. It was pretty good. Loved the twist. But the acting. Oy vey! Please tell me Saw II has better actors.

On Sunday we had bagels at Lenny's and then headed over to Central Park to enjoy the beautiful and clear Spring day. Met up with Eugene in the park and decided to let David row us around on the lake at the boathouse. So relaxing. But watching David row made us hungry so we watched some of the remote control boats over on the east side lake then took the bus down to Momofuku Noodle Bar and met Henry for dinner. Pork buns to die for. Momofuku Ramen to die once again for. Probably the tastiest pork I've ever had.